Chapter 194: This Realm is Truly High!

At nine o'clock the next morning, a truck hauled a full load of timber up the mountain.

South Village was situated on higher ground, so people rarely passed through under normal circumstances.

Hearing the commotion outside, the residents of the Mushroom House all stepped out to look.

"Looks like it's heading to Qingfeng Temple," Huang Sanshi said, watching the truck drive off.

"To Qingfeng Temple? Why did Temple Master Ning buy so much timber?" Xiaofeng asked, her eyes full of curiosity.

"Why don't we go see and find out?" Peng Xiaochang suggested.

"Let's not all go at once. We always swarm over there in a massive crowd, people might get the wrong idea," Huang Sanshi said, shaking his head, though he wanted to go himself.

He Rihuo had once mentioned on a show that there were two incredibly dedicated people in the industry: Huang Sanshi and Sa Xiaoning. Whenever you chatted with them, it felt like they knew everything and could explain the reasoning behind anything.

The prerequisite for having such broad knowledge was an intense curiosity for new things.

Naturally, Huang Sanshi was very curious about what Ning Fei intended to do with the timber.

"I'll go take a look first." Huang Sanshi untied his apron, planning to head up alone.

"We want to go too," Peng Xiaochang clamored.

"Don't you guys have chores to do? Go buy some eggs, I'll show off my cooking skills for you at noon." With that, Teacher Huang walked toward Qingfeng Temple.

By the time he reached Qingfeng Temple, Ning Fei had already unloaded all the timber outside.

Aside from the wood, there were also several woodworking tools.

"Morning, Temple Master Ning!" Huang Sanshi called out with a chuckle.

"Morning," Ning Fei replied. Since they were neighbors, a bit of politeness was only natural.

"You bought a lot of timber."

"Yeah, I plan to make a few things."

"Mind if I ask what you're making?" Huang Sanshi asked curiously, looking at the wood.

"Of course not. I'm already live-streaming anyway, it's no big secret,"

Ning Fei said.

"First, I'm planning to build a house for the panda in the back mountain. Winter is coming, and it's tough for wild giant pandas out there. A shelter will make life much more comfortable for it."

Hearing Ning Fei's explanation, Huang Sanshi let out a sound of admiration.

This Realm was truly high.

Most people would never even think of building a house for a wild giant panda.

"With this much timber, are you only building one house?"

It was then that Huang Sanshi noticed something was off.

Ning Fei had bought an enormous amount of wood.

Let alone a panda, there was enough timber here to build a house for an elephant.

Facing his doubt, Ning Fei simply smiled and said lightly, "With the leftover timber, I plan to build a boat for myself."

His expression didn't waver as he spoke, as if he were talking about the most trivial of tasks.

By now, the director of the Yearning 6 production crew had already switched the broadcast to Huang Sanshi's camera, allowing all the viewers online to hear that statement clearly.

"Build a boat for himself?"

"Why does that sound so domineering!"

"I knew it! Every time this Daoist priest shows up, he does something completely beyond my expectations."

"Temple Master Ning is as overpowered as always."

"Building a boat by hand? My family used to run a shipyard. Manual boat-building requires incredibly demanding, almost harsh levels of craftsmanship. It's not that easy."

"You clearly haven't seen Temple Master Ning's craftsmanship."

At this moment, Huang Sanshi was utterly astonished.

When Ning Fei had first mentioned building a house for a panda, he had only nodded in appreciation.

But upon hearing that Ning Fei planned to build a boat for himself, he immediately felt a deep sense of admiration for the young man.

"Are there even places to row a boat in the mountains?" Huang Sanshi asked.

"There are quite a few lakes in the mountains, and the fish in the center are much plumper than the ones by the shore. Taking a small boat out to the middle of the lake to fish in winter, with a small stove in tow... It would feel quite nice,"

Ning Fei explained leisurely.

As soon as he said that, a vivid image rushed into the viewers' minds.

Deep mountains, a tranquil lake, a lone boat, a Daoist priest, quiet fishing...

Just thinking about it was beautiful.

The driver in charge of transport and unloading helped Ning Fei secure all the timber against the wall before driving the truck away.

Ning Fei got right to work.

"How long does it take to build a small boat?"

Huang Sanshi grew more and more intrigued, almost impatient to see Ning Fei's finished product.

"About three days."

Ning Fei hauled down a piece of timber and meticulously measured its dimensions, his expression completely focused.

Seeing that he was busy, Huang Sanshi didn't bother him any further. He said his goodbyes and headed back to the Mushroom House.

By this time, Zhou Xiaoxun and Chen Xiaokun still hadn't left, and the Mushroom House crew were sitting together chatting.

It was meant to be a relaxed program anyway, with everyone frequently just talking about their daily lives.

"Ah, Teacher Huang, come quickly. We were just talking about it. How did your reconnaissance go? What did Temple Master Ning buy all that timber for?" Zhou Xiaoxun asked immediately upon his return.

"Let me tell you, you will absolutely never guess what he plans to do," Huang Sanshi said, a look of marvel still plastered across his face.

The residents of the Mushroom House only grew more curious.

"He bought the timber to build a house for a panda, for one."

"Second, he's going to build himself a small boat,"

Huang Sanshi laid it out plainly.

As soon as he said that, the others couldn't help but gasp.

"Wow!"

"My goodness, that's just too romantic." Zhou Xiaoxun was an emotional person, and her understanding of romance was watching someone wholeheartedly dedicate themselves to something fresh and refined.

Both of the things Ning Fei planned to do perfectly matched her standard for romance.

The others felt the same.

Zhang Xiaofeng's face was especially full of wonder.

"Oh my god. He's going to have his own boat, and he's making it himself," Peng Xiaochang muttered.

Men never truly grew up. When they were young, they liked toy cars, toy boats, and toy airplanes. When they grew up, they liked sports cars, yachts, and private jets. The core desire never changed.

If a yacht wasn't an option, having a wooden boat of one's own was just as good.

"You could buy one too, Pengpeng. A small wooden boat isn't that expensive. You can get one for a few tens of thousands," Teacher He said, seeing his envious expression.

"But where is he going to find a lake? A wooden boat can only be rowed on calm waters. If he bought one, it would just sit at home as a decoration," Huang Sanshi countered.

"True, but he could use it around here for now," Teacher He said.

Then, a spark of inspiration hit him. He turned and called out to the director, "Director, can we buy a wooden boat? Let's add some tasks that require one."

"Yeah, Director. Look at how badly Pengpeng wants to row a boat," Huang Sanshi chimed in to Director Chen Zhou.

Teacher He's suggestion made the directing team's eyes light up.

Indeed, it was an excellent idea.

A wooden boat on a lake—it would make for great scenery and likely draw high ratings.

So, the director decided to visit the villagers over the next few days to ask if there were any nice lakes nearby suitable for boating.

Over at Qingfeng Temple, Ning Fei was already hard at work.

His first goal was to build the house for Dark Circles.

An animal's shelter didn't need to be overly complicated. As long as it blocked the wind and rain and provided warmth in the winter, it was enough.

The timber Ning Fei selected was Chinese fir.

He explained to the viewers, "I'm going to build a small house for Dark Circles using Chinese fir."

"Chinese fir is tough yet lightweight, with a fine, smooth grain. It holds in heat very well during winter."

"Also, the climate in the mountains is quite damp, which makes most woods rot easily. But Chinese fir is perfectly suited for this environment—it won't decay easily from the moisture."

As he spoke, Ning Fei measured and cut the wood.

His expression was completely focused once again.

He didn't talk much while working, only offering a brief explanation whenever he paused to transition to the next step.

Yet the stream's popularity remained extremely high. Watching Ning Fei's broadcast was incredibly relaxing and stress-relieving, which was exactly the kind of content the viewers loved to tune in for.

Building a house for Dark Circles wasn't difficult. The design was just a standard rectangular base topped with a triangular prism roof, with a large door cut into the middle.

So, after measuring the wood, Ning Fei grabbed a hammer and nails. Following a flurry of sharp, rhythmic pounding, the house was finished.

Of course, this was only the first step.

The subsequent steps were the true key to this shelter.